


Windows To Your Soul

by IncendiaGlacies



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Gen, Gideon-centric, Team Dynamics, Team as Family, season one rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-17
Updated: 2017-05-17
Packaged: 2018-11-01 17:06:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10926240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IncendiaGlacies/pseuds/IncendiaGlacies
Summary: Written for Gideon Appreciation Week Day Two: AUs. A rewrite of season one if Gideon was an android in human form rather than just been a computer and how it would affect the team dynamics. Slight pre-Timeship but not really.





	Windows To Your Soul

**Author's Note:**

> This took me forever and I am super proud of getting it done.
> 
> This is Gideon-centric so not every scene is covered and a lot of things are glossed over. I just put in scenes where I felt Gideon's character could be utilized more or interact more with the team or move the plot along.
> 
> Shout out to timewantstohappen for giving me the title.
> 
> And a lot of my headcanons for Android!Gideon stem from the BBC show Humans.
> 
> Enjoy and review/kudos if you have the chance please? If people like it I can work on a season two rewrite in this same universe or elaborate on any scenes you want. Thank you!

Gideon waited patiently as she always did for her Captain to return. He hadn’t been in the best spirits since the loss of his family. Now he had gone to get the Time Masters approval to change history. At first the Captain had been vehemently against asking for help, he knew what the answer would be. And so did Gideon. The Time Masters did not interfere with set time, not even for dictators such as Vandal Savage.

But still, Gideon had pleaded. If she was going to go against her very purpose to serve the Time Masters, against her root code ingrained in her soul, then she had to know that they had exhausted every route. She would do anything for her Captain, but only if she knew it was the best and only option. Finally she heard the doors swish open, the metallic clunk of his boots hitting the floor.

“How did the Council meeting go, Captain Hunter?” Gideon asked as she turned from the console.

“Just as expected, Gideon,” he gave her an apologetic look, “Prepare to time jump please.”

Gideon nodded, they didn’t agree then. Of course she knew it was a long shot, but it still had to be done. And now they had to run before they could be stopped. No doubt they wouldn’t be expecting the Waverider’s AI to go rogue along with the Captain of the ship, it would give them a head start at least.

As Captain Hunter sat in his pilot seat – Gideon was usually just fine being able to stand, small perks of not being fully human, no matter how much she may have acted it – he called to her, “Also if you could bring up the profiles of the eight men and women who will be joining us on this crusade?”

Gideon worked quickly on the touchscreen to pull up the holographic reports, worriedly she asked, “Captain, if we’re going to have a team then, are they going to know about-”

“No, Gideon. Not if you don’t want to. You can be human if you like. God knows that I’m not planning on telling them everything. Not just yet anyways,” Rip turned back to the front looking at the holographic projections of the reports on the screen.

“Is that wise, Captain Hunter? Shouldn’t they know the truth and then make a clear decision?”

Rip gave her a bitter smile, “I wish the world was as good as you were Gideon. And I wish I could see the good in people like you always seem to. For an AI you have a lot more humanity than most people. But no, I know what I’m doing. If I tell them the truth about their futures – that they’ve made no difference, they won’t help. Trust me on this, Gideon. I’m asking for some faith.”

Gideon smiled softly, “Of course, Captain. I always believe in you.”

“Alright then. Let’s go get ourselves a team!”

\---

Again Gideon found herself waiting aboard the ship as she so often did. That wasn’t to say the Captain didn’t take her on missions, one of the positives of being an Android AI as opposed to simply a voice was that she could accompany her Captain to most places. But they had agreed that only Captain Hunter should be present for the initial meetings with the incoming team.

“How does a vessel this size function without a crew?” a voice carried through the hall over previous exclamations of awe and wonder of the Waverider.

Her Captain entered the bridge leading the team, “I don’t need one. I have Gideon,” Captain Hunter pointed to her, “She’s my…partner so to speak. We’ve been travelling together a very long time now and she takes care of the critical systems and just about everything so I don’t have to. Gideon knows all the ins and outs of the ship, better than just about anybody.”

“Ah so the woman does all the work?” the blonde – Sara Lance – spoke up.

Gideon saw her Captain flash the woman a sharp look so she intervened, “Obviously Captain Hunter is greatly indebted to my service. He would be lost without me.”

Captain Hunter rolled his eyes but Gideon could almost see a twitch of a smile on his face, “Of course I would. Are we ready to time jump?”

“What, time jump already? I assumed there would be some sort of crash course in basic time travel etiquette?” Professor Stein spoke up.

“We need to act quickly. Crash course – not all of time is set yet, there’s always some wiggle room and so we need to track Savage’s movement throughout history. Unfortunately we haven’t had much luck, Savage is resourceful in covering his tracks – even Gideon can’t track him. But we have the next best thing, the man that can. Aldus Boardman in 1975. Gideon, if you would please plot the course?”

Rip headed off for his pilot’s seat allowing the rest of the team to follow his lead. The youngest woke up in his seat and started yelling about being kidnapped, a clear exaggeration if you asked Gideon.

“There are of course some side effects to time travel,” Captain Hunter spoke up midway through timestream, “The human body is used to time unraveling linearly. So the first few jumps are sometimes hard on new time travelers.”

Dr. Palmer made to question the statement before the time jump began affecting him and the rest of the team. Soon screams echoed in the metal ship along with Gideon’s laughter, she always loved this part of time travelling. Then they landed and the team experienced the side effects.

“Nausea is a possible side effect,” Gideon announced as Dr. Palmer threw up, “I do hope you will clean up after yourself. And of course vertigo,” as she watched a few of the passengers stumble around, “And temporary blindness. But it should wear off soon,” she reassured Professor Stein.

Her Captain began explaining the intricacies of the plan: how Boardman would die in twenty four hours so they would have to hurry, and how the ‘Rogues’ would be left on the ship as their expertise was not needed either. Which meant Gideon was meant to stay onboard and watch them all, like a glorified babysitter. As it turned out, she wasn’t that good at this job.

“Where are you going?” Gideon asked as she watched the two criminals and assassin getting ready to leave.

“Out,” Mr. Snart sneered, “1975, we’re not gonna be locked up in here. We’d invite you, but someone needs to look after the kid.”

“Perhaps Captain Hunter wasn’t clear with his instructions to stay on the ship?” Gideon questioned.

“Perfectly understood,” Mr. Snart quipped, ‘Just don’t care for them. Don’t sorry your pretty little head, Doll,” he patted her cheek.

Gideon stepped away immediately out of his reach, “My name is Gideon. Not ‘Doll’.”

Leonard took a step back and got ready to argue, but there was something in her eyes. Steely, but for some reason a look of fear in her eyes. Now he may be a criminal, but he had a little sister. He certainly didn’t approve of any men hurting women, especially not like his father. And he certainly didn’t want this woman afraid of him. Or at least not of physical harm, he would probably steal something from her sooner or later. Instead he apologized and made his way off the ship with his crew.

Gideon sighed, she had to let them off the ship. Technically speaking she could just lock all exits and keep them onboard. But that would lead to questions about who, or rather what she was, questions she was not prepared to answer. Or rather, questions she did not want to answer. She supposed she was allowed to be a little selfish. Instead she went back to the Captain’s study, surely there were some new algorithms she could work in the meantime. Eventually though, she got interrupted.

“Gideon, can’t you fly us back to 2016?” Mr. Jackson asked after knocking on the door. Well at least one of them had manners. But his request was simply not possible.

“Captain Hunter warned me you might do this,” Gideon said sweetly, “However he also warned me to not grant you your request.”

“Oh come on! I thought he said you basically ran this ship anyways,” Jax tried to sweet talk her.

“Be as that may, my orders still come from Captain Hunter,” Gideon quickly began backtracking, worried that the boy might find out the truth about her, “Would you me to prescribe you a sedative? Perhaps it would help you calm down.”

“I do not need another roofie!” he yelled before getting knocked down by an explosion from outside. “What’s happening?”

“We seem to be under attack,” Gideon called as she pulled up the ship’s defense reports, “They must have seen past the shield cover the Captain put up.”

“How did they do that? Who is attacking us?”

“Only someone with Time Master technology could do this. This must be Chronos, the bounty hunter from the Time Masters.”

“Well why are they attacking us?” Jax began running into the corridor. Gideon ran after him, the young man was going to get himself killed at this rate. He just got onto the ship, no one knew it better than Gideon.

“I think that would be a better question for the Captain to answer,” she couldn’t disclose her Captain’s truth. Not when he had allowed her to keep her own secret.

“Well can’t you fire torpedoes or something?” Jax asked and answered his own question when he saw the look on Gideon’s face, “Let me guess, only Captain Hunter can do that.” Gideon shrugged in answer.

They waited as the ship continued to take hits and then there was more chaos, the rest of the team had arrived. Gideon waited on the ship, ready to defend it while Jax went off to bond with his other half of Firestorm. She paid attention to the fight continuing outside and headed back to the bridge, getting the ship to time jump as soon as the Captain and team were back.

“Gideon,” her Captain called as the team entered, “Professor Boardman has been injured. Could you prepare the medbay? And please tell me you’re working on getting us out of here!”

“Strap yourselves in, the ship is ready to time jump, we should be heading into the temporal zone. I’ll take Professor Boardman now,” Gideon took the elderly man with her to the medbay. She was lucky enough that being an AI allowed her to be able to move around the ship during the time jumps. A necessary feature in case anything went wrong onboard with the systems, the AI always had to be able to fix it rather than endangering the Captain’s life. She felt the ship stop as she got the professor situated in the medbay, having the medical cuff on and the machine running his vitals. There was unfortunately not much she could do for him anymore.

When she was done she headed back to the bridge only to witness the aftermath of an altercation in which Ms. Lance hit her Captain across the face.

“Captain Hunter!” Gideon ran to his side to check the damage even as he muttered he was fine and tried to bat her hands away.

“Start telling the truth!” Her Captain sighed and began explaining everything from the beginning, how he was no longer a Time Master and had lied to them about their futures.

“Give me one good reason why we shouldn’t kill you?” Snart asked.

Gideon narrowed her eyes, “Because then you would be stuck here forever. Do you honestly think I would let you go home if you killed my Captain?”

“We could just kill you too,” Snart shrugged.

“And then none of you would understand how the ship works and you would still be stuck here. Brilliant plan, Mr. Snart,” Gideon shot back.

“What did Savage do to you?” Ray asked.

Rip sighed and began explaining about how he had fallen in love and how they had Jonas. And what Savage had done to them. Savage slaughtered his family, and countless others.

“So you’re both avenging your son’s death?” Kendra asked for clarification, perhaps he wasn’t so different from them after all she thought about her own dying son.

“No. Captain Hunter was married to someone else. Savage murdered her too,” Gideon corrected.

“This whole time when you said you two were partners I thought you also meant something more,” Kendra replied with a silent apology for the misunderstanding, “If he’s doing this to save his family, why are you here?” she asked Gideon.

Gideon froze, how could she explain without giving away her own truths? She saw how they had treated Captain Hunter, how would they react if they were to find out she was less than human?

“Because he asked,” she answered simply, “If you wish to return home you’ll have to wait until repairs are done.” With that the team was dismissed and Gideon headed over to the panel to work on repairs.

She worked in silence for a while, peripherally aware of the workings of the ship. The team talking over their choices, Ms. Saunders visiting her son and his worsening condition. Finally Captain Hunter broke the silence, “What do you think Gideon?”

“I calculate a less than six percent chance that they decide to go on with the mission,” Gideon rattled off.

Rip sighed, “I meant the repairs. And don’t think I can’t hear the ‘I told you so’ in your tone.”

“Of course not Captain, I would never,” she turned around to see the team entering the bridge again. She took in the determined look in their eyes, well there was a first time to be wrong in her calculations she supposed. She fixed up the panel and made her way to plot a course to their next destination as they gave their answer to the Captain.

“So how do we find this guy?” Jax asked aloud.

Rip looked at Gideon who answered, “I’ve already plotted a course to our next destination.”

\----

Of course the weapons exhibition in 1975 was where the entire plan fell through. The team, though they had agreed to continue on the mission, did not trust Captain Hunter or Gideon which meant they decided to handle things themselves. Gideon could only sit back and watch with her Captain as the team revealed themselves to Savage, nearly destroyed Central City in 2016 and Professor Stein’s own marriage. Gideon still thought it was through some sort of miracle that they managed to save the future and Professor Stein’s marriage.

But not all in one piece unfortunately. Carter Hall lost his life and Gideon had set up the medbay for Kendra who was in critical condition. The alarms were currently going off signaling a drop in her vitals. Ray, Rip and Martin all filed into the medbay to meet Gideon.

“Turn off the bloody alarms, Gideon! Is she going to be alright?” Rip ordered.

“She’s in critical condition and it’s not looking good, Captain. I’m not sure how much more I can do.”

Suddenly Kendra lashed out, clawing at Gideon and yelling, “How could you leave him?! He died! Carter!”

“Captain!” Gideon yelled fearfully. Rip pressed a few buttons and Kendra fell back down into a dreamless slumber.

“I administered a sedative,” he said quietly as he touched Gideon’s arm, “Are you alright?”

Gideon nodded, “I’m fine, Captain. I’ll stay here and watch over her. The jumpship still needs repair though. Might I suggest Mr. Jackson take a look at it? He is a mechanic. I don’t want to leave her alone in her condition.”

Rip nodded as Martin asked, “Do you want us to look at it instead? I don’t know how much a mechanic, even Jefferson can do.”

Rip widened his eyes as he stepped away from Gideon who responded icily, “I trust a mechanic more than an academic to fix my ship.”

“I thought it was your ship?” Ray asked as he pointed at Rip.

“Technically,” Rip answered. Noticing the look he got from Gideon he clarified, “I mean it’s our ship. We share it. Look, just help Gideon find out a way to fix Kendra. This mission is useless without her. And I will go deal with the rest of the team and repairs.”

The Captain went in and out after that, pulling Gideon aside to tell her he had a secret mission with Ms. Lance while Dr. Palmer and Professor Stein used her expertise of futuristic medical knowledge to determine the best course of action for Ms. Saunders. Once Dr. Palmer had finished shrinking into her bloodstream and taking care of pieces of the dagger she had another episode, shrieking about the team members in danger.

“They went without us?” Ray asked.

“We haven’t got time for this. We need to get Jefferson and the other two and help them!” Martin said.

Gideon looked up at that and finally noticed what had been off. She knew something felt wrong but she wasn’t sure what, and now she did. They had taken the jumpship. They stole her jumpship!

“I don’t think they’re onboard right now, Professor. They must have taken the jumpship for their own personal reasons,” Gideon stated.

“How do you know that?” Ray asked confused, “You didn’t even look at anything. How can you know they’re gone?” It was true. Gideon hadn’t left Ms. Saunder’s side but she always knew when something was off with the ship, part of her programming. Rather than explain this she moved to the control panel and changed the topic, “I can patch you in to the jumpship.”

The call went through and the team came together (all except for Ray and Martin who stayed behind with Gideon to watch over Kendra) and they were now on their way back safely from Savage. By the time they got back Ms. Saunders was finally coming to properly so Gideon made her way out of the medbay to find her Captain leaving Ms. Lance and heading to the medbay. He nodded in acknowledgement to her before continuing on, Gideon had other problems to deal with.

She found Mr. Snart pressing different buttons on the console, “What exactly do you think you’re doing, Mr. Snart?”

“How do I get access to the timeline information? The new timeline information?” Snart asked indicating the newspaper headline that was displayed currently.

“That would be the new timeline information. It updates automatically,” Gideon moved him away from the console and turned off hologram, “I would also urge you to not change the timeline and to not touch my computers.” They were her lifeline after all.

“Oh, someone’s possessive, aren’t they?” Snart teased.

“I really wouldn’t irritate her if I were you,” Rip announced as he walked in, “You already stole the jumpship and you didn’t take my key because it’s still in the study. Which means you took Gideon’s.”

Gideon narrowed her eyes, “You were in my bedroom?”

Snart shrugged, “I’m a thief, what’re you gonna do? Besides, you didn’t have much in there anyways. The Captain’s a packrat and you live spartanly. You two make quite the pair.”

“I think that’s quite enough,” Rip stopped him before Gideon could respond. Snart flashed a smile before attempting to leave only to be stopped by the Englishman with a hand to his chest, “The key if you please, Mr. Snart? You should have just stolen mine. Now you have to deal with Gideon’s wrath. I would have just yelled, she can make your life hell,” Rip told Snart quietly as he pocketed the key. Snart let out a bark of laughter before joining Jax who had shown up at the doorway.

Rip walked over to Gideon holding out the stolen article, “Your key?”

Gideon grabbed it from him, “Thank you, Captain. I’m changing the locks. And I will make sure they won’t get hot water for days. Or a proper night’s sleep.” There was a shout from down the hall at which made Rip turn to her, “And also I turned out the lights in front of them.”

Rip sighed and rubbed his temples, “Just don’t overdo it. If you don’t want them to find out about you, then you can’t control everything all the time like usual.”

Gideon looked over at him guiltily, “Captain-”

Rip waved a hand, “Don’t worry about it. I told you I will keep your secret, and I will, Gideon."

“Thank you,” Gideon expressed gratefully. “I couldn’t help but notice you talking with Ms. Lance earlier. And you both had your secret mission, anything important I should know about?” she asked innocently.

A shadow of a smile crossed Rip’s face, “Gideon if I didn’t know any better I’d say you were jealous I was making a new friend.”

“My emotional capacities don’t range into such petty emotions,” Gideon responded robotically.

Rip snorted, “Your emotional capacities shouldn’t have this much range to begin with,” noticing her pointed look he continued, “It was nothing. Sara and I just seem to understand each other better than I thought we would. We both have regrets.”

Gideon nodded in understanding, she knew just how far he had gone to try and save his family already. She reached out to squeeze her Captain’s hand in comfort, a gesture he smiled softly at.

“Come on,” he took her by the hand and began dragging her from the bridge, “Kendra is finally awake so we are going to give Carter Hall the burial he deserves. And then I think a time jump to 1986 is necessary.”

\---

1986 did not go to plan. The initial break in to the Pentagon had failed disastrously leading to dissent within the ranks and then they had crash landed in the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War due to another attack from Chronos.

Rip worked on separating everyone into groups. Sara and Kendra would be sparring together. Leonard and Ray would go to meet the Russian scientist. Martin and Jax would work on their own Firestorm abilities. He and Mick were planning on going out to find Chronos themselves and Gideon was just supposed to stay on the ship.

“You should take me with you, for once the ship doesn’t even need repairs, Captain,” Gideon protested.

“Absolutely not,” Rip argued. Seeing that Gideon was about to refute his statement he pulled her into the corridor away from everyone else and quietly explained, “Look I know you’re only looking after me. But Chronos is a Temporal Bounty Hunter, which means he has the power to change you into recovery mode against your will. Your entire personality erased, just like that. And I can’t risk that, Gideon.”

“It is my purpose to look after you, Captain,” Gideon said.

“Yes, I know,” Rip sighed and held on to her arms, “But I am still your Captain which means you still need to obey me.”

“You know, in the 21st century they have woman’s rights,” Sara interrupted from behind them having caught the last part of the conversation, “I imagine they’ve only grown in the future. You don’t have to talk to her that way, she’s not your property. And you don’t have to listen to him,” she turned to Gideon.

Rip sighed and shot Sara a dirty look though his words were for Gideon also, “I am doing what is best for her. I am aware of all that, but I need to keep her safe.”

“Why would she-?”

“Gideon, stay on the ship, please,” Rip cut her off.

Gideon nodded, she knew her Captain had only the best of intentions, “As you wish, Captain. Be safe.”

Rip threw her a cocky smile before backing away, “Of course, I always am.”

As he walked away, Sara turned to Gideon, “He doesn’t need to treat you like that. And you don’t always have to do what he says.”

“It’s more complicated than that.”

“Then un-complicate it. You hardly ever even leave this ship, and if Rip says then you’ll do anything for him. He said you two were partners-”

“He was being kind,” Gideon interrupted, “He’s my Captain. I do as he says. Besides, I don’t need to get off the ship that much. My expertise are the Waverider and any futuristic technology Dr. Palmer and Professor Stein might not understand. I’m not like the rest of you, I’m not a superhero that fights all the time.”

Sara looked at the other woman softly, “You could be if you wanted to. If we can be Legends, you could be a hero.”

Gideon smiled, “If I wanted to, I would. But it’s not what I want. Now, I believe you have training to do, Ms. Lance?”

“What’re you going to do?”

Gideon began walking away, “Captain Hunter has a tracker planted on him, I’m going to follow him on the computers and make sure he doesn’t get into any trouble.”

“Like you always do,” Sara said understandingly.

“It’s my job,” Gideon replied.

When the Captain did come back, he was safe but facing yet another dilemma: whether he should turn himself in to the Time Masters.

“Surely, you realize this is hardly a good idea?” Martin argued with the Captain again.

“Right now, it might just be the best one we have,” Rip replied.

“Man, no,” Jax complained, “Gideon, he’s not listening to us. You try.”

Gideon looked up from the back of the study. “What happens to me?” she asked softly.

Rip looked away, realizing he wasn’t actually sure. Druce had promised him that his infractions would be forgiven, his team’s memories wiped, but he didn’t know what would happen to Gideon. For him to betray the Time Masters was one thing. For Gideon, an AI created by the Time Masters to be loyal to only them and then betray them for her Captain instead, it was unforgivable. At best she would be assigned to another Captain, at worst she would be scrapped and recycled. Rip couldn’t afford that to happen, not to Gideon. His decision was made.

After that it was a blur of events all melded together: Chronos and Druce escaping, Stein getting captured, Mick and Ray ending up in the Russian prison, breaking into the Russian prison on a rescue mission and getting Stein away from Valentina. And then Chronos attacked again, propelling the Waverider into the future for another crash landing. It was always one thing after another with this team.

\---

“I don’t think we have ever crashed the Waverider this much on our normal missions,” Gideon commented as the team made their way back from their venture into 2046 and the Captain finished lecturing them on not changing the future. Ms. Lance still looked rather upset over the usual protocol.

“How bad is the damage this time?” Rip asked tiredly.

“Bad,” Gideon dropped the tablet she was looking at onto the console. Rip frowned at that, he knew she didn’t actually need to look at the tablet, as the AI of the ship she was automatically ingrained with the ship’s infrastructure. She always knew what was wrong with the ship. And she wasn’t putting on a show for the team either, she had been reading it before they had entered.

Gideon sighed and dropped into the pilot’s seat as she delivered the news, “The engines are badly damaged, it might take a while to fix them up. But I’m sure Mr. Jackson can get them running again.”

Rip crossed his arms, “And what else?”

“The neuromorphic interface matrix is completely ruined. You can’t fix it,” she stated bluntly.

“And what exactly does that do?” Kendra asked.

Rip rubbed his temples, “It runs this entire ship.” That was putting it lightly though. It was what connected Gideon’s humanoid form to the ship, without it she wouldn’t last very long. Her lifespan was still determined by the Waverider, but sometimes he forgot that as she had a physical form separate from the ship itself. Without the matrix, it was only a matter of time until she broke down, essentially dying.

“Without that matrix this ship isn’t going anywhere,” Rip declared. He wouldn’t let Gideon die like this, not because of his crusade.

“Palmer Tech was working on neuromorphic interfaces, I’m sure they’d have a prototype by now,” Ray spoke up.

“Then we’re going to need that,” Rip nodded at him before squeezing Gideon’s shoulder to ease her worry.

They divided into teams then: Sara, Rogues and Rip to steal the technology, Kendra and Firestorm working on the engines, which left Ray and Gideon to ready the ship for the new technology. Rip knew this wasn’t Gideon’s first choice, that she would have preferred having her Captain work on the computers. This was her lifeline they were dealing with, she couldn’t trust just anybody. But as much as it pained him, Rip needed to go with Sara and make sure she didn’t mess up the timeline with her emotional attachments to the city, he knew just what emotions could cause a person to do. He started this crusade after all. So he left Gideon in the hands of Dr. Palmer, after all it was his technology they would be implanting.

“Soooo, how long have you been time travelling for?”

“Dr. Palmer.” Gideon warned not even glancing up from the tablet where she was watching the ship’s vitals (and her own) based on the changes Ray was making.

“Oh come on,” Ray whined, “I know you don’t like talking much, I mean you only ever really talk to Rip. But I would like to get to know you too. And I work better when I have someone to bounce ideas off of. And who better than a beautiful time travelling genius from the future?”

Gideon looked up suddenly, “Are you…flirting with me?”

“What?” Ray asked almost dropping the wrench he was holding looking down the ladder at the chair Gideon was seated in, “No. I mean, not really-I – yes, I am. Is that okay?”

Gideon looked back at her tablet, silent for a few moments, “Thirteen years.”

“What?” Ray asked confused.

“That’s how long I’ve been travelling, with Captain Hunter.”

“I thought he said Time Masters worked alone, or is it normal to partner up two Time Masters?”

“I’m not a Time Master,” Gideon clarified, “I’m…here to help.”

“Like an assistant? Or mechanic?” Ray asked, she was always fixing up the ship and knew it inside and out.

“Yes. Something like that. Are you almost done?”

Ray gave the wire one last twist and hopped off the ladder, “That should do it!” he exclaimed holding out a hand in the air for a high five. Gideon laughed to herself but responded to the celebratory gesture before thanking him again. Now they just had to wait for the rest of the team to get back.

It wasn’t until after they had saved 2046 that Ray finally got a chance to talk to Rip. He watched as Sara left the study and waited to be noticed.

“Something I can do for you, Dr. Palmer?” Rip asked.

“Actually, yes,” Ray walked over to the opposite side of the desk where Rip was working, “I was just wondering, about Gideon.”

That got Rip’s attention, “What about her?”

“Does she, does she have anybody?” Ray fidgeted quietly.

“Meaning?” Rip frowned.

“I mean, you had your wife and son and I know Time Masters don’t approve of families. But she said she’s not actually a Time Master so I was just wondering if the same rules applied to her or if she did have anyone or if she’s just not interested.”

“Interested, in you?” Rip asked curiously.

Ray shrugged, “You don’t think she would be?”

“I don’t know,” Rip looked away avoiding eye contact. Thinking about his AI’s love life, or rather lack of, wasn’t something he did often. Or ever. “It’s not really something we talk about.”

“So she’s here helping you save your family, who she’s probably met given that she’s spent over ten years travelling with you and you don’t even know if she has anyone herself?” Ray asked, the judgement in his tone clear.

Rip dragged a hand through his hair, “She doesn’t have anyone. But I also don’t think she’s interested in anyone. We’ve been out on plenty of missions and there have been many suitors and she doesn’t care for any of them. But you’d have to ask her, not me.”

“Right, of course. I just thought I’d get your opinion on it first, you know given how you’re her friend,” Ray explained. That’s how it worked in the romcoms, you want the girl you have to make nice with the friends too. It was only polite anyways.

Rip nodded, dismissing Raymond without another word. Ray left and made his way down the corridors to find a depressed Jax.

“No luck with Kendra then?” Ray asked as they crossed paths.

Jax sighed, “Man, is it that obvious?”

Ray shrugged but grinned, “A little, yeah,” seeing the sad look on his face Ray decided to divulge, “If it helps, I think I just struck out with Gideon too. I tried flirting and by her reaction, she didn’t seem to care. And Rip just said she’s never really been interested in anyone. So hey, we’re both interested in emotionally unavailable women.”

Jax snorted, “That’s what Rip said? Man for a guy from the future, he can be thick. I think she’s interested, but not in you.”

Ray frowned, “Alright, I’ll bite. Who?”

Jax rolled his eyes, “Who else? Rip. Man, she’s out here risking her life to help him save his family when she doesn’t have to be. And the way she does everything he asks.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she likes him like that, does it?”

Jax crossed his arms, “Maybe not romantically,” he acknowledged, “But there’s something there. Something more than just friendship, I’m telling you.”

Ray nodded, it was what was happening to all them on this ship. Slowly all these strangers were becoming a team, a family of outcasts. Legends.

\---

“You can’t keep doing this.”

Rip looked up from the hologram message of his family at the interruption to find his AI and Martin standing by, “Gideon, I thought we agreed you would make noise and not sneak up on me like that?”

“We didn’t mean to interrupt,” Stein began not wanting to upset the Captain in his private moments with his family, “But you’ve been in here for almost a week, only leaving when Gideon makes you and the team is getting worried. And somewhat antsy.”

Gideon was blunter as she turned off the projection despite Rip’s protests, “Captain, this isn’t helping. You have averaged three hours of sleep the past four days and you skipped the last two meals I brought for you.”

“What have you been working on in here?” Martin asked.

“I’ve been trying to track Savage!” Rip exploded. Gideon didn’t even flinch, though Martin did, used to his outbursts at this point. He dragged a hand through his hair and began throwing papers around on the desk. “Nothing is working, the best way to deal with Savage would be earlier than 1975 but we can’t pinpoint any location for him. Normally, Gideon would get updated when we return to the Vanishing Point but given my rogue status, we have no new information and therefore no new leads on Savage.”

“That’s why I decided to interrupt your brooding,” Gideon stopped his rant. Rip gave her an apologetic look, he knew he was making things hard on her with his isolation forcing her to deal with the Legends alone. “I just intercepted a distress signal from the Acheron, a-”

“Flagship for the Time Fleet. Brilliant, come on!” Rip finished.

Soon the entire team had gathered around to watch the video sent by Captain Eve Baxter.

“So why are we helping out this chick when the Time Masters are chasing us?” Snart asked the obvious question.

“I have to agree with Leonard here, it seems like a trap,” Sara threw in.

“It more than likely is,” Rip agreed, “But the computers on the Acheron have most likely also been updated and have information on Savage’s location. Information we need.”

“I’m in,” Mick spoke up settling the matter. Rip nodded and had Gideon set a course on route to the Archeron. Once there they separated into teams.

“Professor Stein, Mr. Jackson, Dr. Palmer, care to join us on the boarding party?” Rip asked gesturing to himself and Mick.

“A chance to view a deep space vessel up close? What could be more fun?” Martin gushed.

“I could think of a few things, but alright,” Jax replied rolling his eyes at his other half’s excitement.

“I’m with Martin on this one, sounds awesome. I’m definitely in!” Ray said.

“Right then, we’ll take the jumpship. Gideon, you’re in charge of the Waverider,” Rip announced.

Gideon gave a mock salute and took over the pilot’s seat, “Thank you, Sir.”

Before leaving, Rip pulled Sara aside, “Gideon is in charge of the ship, but you’re still in charge of the team. Take care of them.” Sara nodded understanding the weight of the responsibility.

“We’ll be in contact,” Rip said as they all exited.

And for a while things went smoothly. Sara and Leonard settled down for another card game while Kendra watched as Gideon communicated with the jumpship. For some reason Gideon couldn’t get the computers to connect with those on the Acheron. Of course that’s when everything went to hell.

\--

Jax sighed, nothing was ever easy for them. Now they were all being held hostage by evil time pirates with the Time Master they had been trying to save. And Mick had just betrayed them after an argument with Rip. The day was just getting worse.

“You’re one to talk about loyalty,” Eve scoffed, “A man who broke his oath, turned his back on the Time Masters, stole a timeship to change history for his own personal gain. You pulled people out of time to help you on this pathetic mission and you reprogrammed an AI to change its loyalty from the organization that created it, to you.”

“I don’t care that I betrayed the Time Masters, I can live with that.” Rip yelled back and then quietly continued, “But I will never forgive myself for failing my family.”

It was quiet for a few minutes before Ray spoke up, “We don’t have an AI onboard.”

“What, man?” Jax asked. Was now really the time for this?

“She said Rip reprogrammed an AI, but we don’t have one. Not like this ship has Gilbert,” Ray explained.

“Every timeship has an AI,” Eve said.

“I’ve been working on that ship for a while now, I’m getting pretty good at it. I’m sure I would have noticed if there was programming for a supercomputer overlording over us all the time,” Jax argued.

Eve merely turned to Rip pointedly, “You didn’t even tell your team?”

“Tell us what?” Ray asked. Rip continued to glare at Eve so he prompted again, “Rip?”

Rip sighed and looked away, his hands fidgeting, “Not every Artificial Intelligence is just a computer with only a voice. Some have physical representation, a humanoid body.”

“No,” Ray said softly as he realized what Rip was talking about, “We would have noticed.”

“What? What am I missing here?” Jax complained.

“Clearly none of you did, and you weren’t meant to,” Rip turned to Eve, “And I didn’t have to reprogram her. She’s always been loyal to me over the Time Masters, I only had to ask.”

“Gideon,” Jax realized in shock.

“Yes.”

Before anyone could take in what this truly meant, their savior came in the form of Martin Stein.

\--

“Okay, breach in the hull of the ship is fixed, Snart just got back from dealing with Mick’s betrayal and no, he doesn’t want to talk about it ever. Please tell me this rescue mission from hell got us the information we needed,” Sara announced as the team gathered on the bridge with Snart bringing in the rear.

“Yes, I believe we are ready to time jump,” Rip said about to give Gideon instructions.

“What, just like that?” Ray asked, “Don’t we need to talk about the elephant in the room?”

“I thought we weren’t mentioning Mick anymore?” Kendra asked softly.

“Ray’s not talking about Mick though,” Jax enlightened.

“Mr. Jackson, Dr. Palmer,” Rip warned them taking a defensive position by Gideon.

“What don’t we know?” Martin asked, “We can’t have anymore secrets onboard. Not after what just happened.”

Jax shook his head and ignored Rip’s silent pleading, “Gideon.”

“What about her?” Sara asked.

“She’s not exactly human,” Ray told them.

“What the hell does that mean?” Sara asked. After everything they had been through she wouldn’t be surprised at this point if Gideon ended up being an alien or something.

“Dr. Palmer,” Rip began to lecture him but was stopped by Gideon’s hand on his arm.

“It’s alright, Captain,” Gideon stepped forward in front of the team, her Captain behind her for the support she needed, “Dr. Palmer and Mr. Jackson are correct. I’m not exactly human, not in the sense that you are.”

“Then what exactly are you?” Snart growled.

“The Waverider’s Artificial Intelligence,” Gideon answered simply, “I was created to maintain the ship’s critical systems and help Captain Hunter on his missions.”

“You’re a robot,” Snart declared.

“Don’t be ridiculous Mr. Snart,” Martin chided, “To call a piece of technology such as this something as rudimentary as a robot, I mean that would be like calling the Mona Lisa a fingerpainting. Can you imagine the implications this has for the future? Manual labor put on to, to fine-tuned technology, thus reducing the overall work for humans. It’s rather remarkable.” He had so many questions: did she sleep? Eat properly? How did she maintain power? Was there a range she had to stay in around the ship in order to control it?

Gideon looked away as Rip spoke up, “I think that’s enough.”

“So you lied to us, again,” Kendra concluded.

“Only because I asked him to,” Gideon defended her Captain, “I asked Captain Hunter to keep my secret. And I’m sorry.”

“That you didn’t tell us or that we found out?” Sara asked noticing the look on Gideon’s face, like she had lost something important to her.

Gideon looked at her and said truthfully, “That you found out. I never wanted this to happen.”

“Why not?” Snart snarled.

“Because I didn’t want you to look at me the way you are now,” she gazed upon the faces of the team, “Like I’m some sort of science project or lesser than any of you for not being human.”

The team looked ashamed of themselves as most of them had jumped to conclusions. Martin looked down, he hadn’t meant for his comments to come out as they had, but the idea of an android being so humanistic, well he had only dreamt of it! Meanwhile both Ray and Jax felt guilty for outing Gideon, they should have realized that she wanted to keep to herself for a reason, it wasn’t their place to out her. And both Sara and Kendra could sympathize with feeling less than human, given that one was a former assassin and the other was a hawk goddess.

“Look, I know we probably should have said something earlier,” Rip broke the silence, “But I stand by Gideon’s decision to not tell you all anything. This doesn’t change anything. All you need to know now is that Gideon is still in charge of the ship but more because she is essentially a part of the software system. Now given that, she still has thoughts and feelings of her own and is every bit of the human you first met when you all came onboard.”

“And she has to do everything you say,” Sara realized, “Because it’s in her programming and you can override her as Captain.”

Rip looked her direction, “Technically speaking, yes. I am the only one with the proper designation and commands to make Gideon actually do anything. But it’s not something I take lightly or would ever do.”

“Now,” Rip clapped his hands, “Are we going to commiserate over what just happened or are we going to stop Savage? Captain Baxter was kind enough to give us the new information we need. We’re heading to 1958, Harmony Falls.”

\--

“Well at least this mission wasn’t an utter failure,” Ray said as he and Kendra joined Sara and Gideon.

“Yes,” Gideon agreed, “Mr. Jackson has been returned to normal as have the asylum patients after administering the serum Professor Stein and I concocted.”

Not that it had been perfect. It was clear that the truth of Gideon’s true nature had caused some tensions in the team dynamics. While Ray and Kendra had played the happy married couple, Sara, Gideon and Martin infiltrated the hospital as nurses and a doctor. But in the end, Martin had listened to reason from Gideon in creating the antidote for the hawk-like monsters.

“But I couldn’t kill Savage,” Kendra sighed.

Ray put an arm around her in sympathy allowing Kendra to rest her head against his shoulder, “Don’t worry, we’ll get him next time.” Sara raised an eyebrow at that, was there something going on there?

“Let’s just get out of 1958, I kinda miss cellphones and 21st century technology. And I’m betting Gideon’s definitely tired of all the archaic electronics here,” Sara teased thinking back to how Gideon had complained how everything was recorded on paper so she couldn’t actually scan it with her mind. She was still coming to terms that the woman was actually a supercomputer.

“I’m ignoring the jest Ms. Lance,” Gideon noted, “But yes, this place and the 21st century are incredibly antiquated for me. It would be like you dealing with the 1800’s, which was even worse for me actuall-” Gideon gasped doubling over.

Kendra and Sara rushed to catch her, “Gideon? What’s wrong?”

“Captain Hunter!” Gideon looked at the Waverider across the field, “Something’s wrong with the ship!”

Ray looked up keeping in mind that no matter how far Gideon was from the ship she was still technically a part of it. And right now, that part of her was hovering up and getting ready to fly away.

“Hey! They’re leaving us! Hey!” Sara ran after the Waverider, but it was futile. The ship was gone before she could cross the distance.

“They’re gone,” Ray breathed.

“They left us,” Sara corrected.

Gideon shook her head, “Trust me, they didn’t want to. Something went wrong and they were forced to leave. I felt a breach, Chronos must have gotten past the security I had set up. I knew I shouldn’t have left the ship, its defenses are stronger when I’m onboard.”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Ray consoled, “We have to figure out what to do now.”

Gideon and Ray both insisted on waiting, sure that the team would be back soon. But a few hours later and there was still no sign, so they allowed Sara to hotwire a car so they could get out of the town and to safety.

“How are they supposed to find us if we leave Harmony Falls?” Ray asked.

“They’ll be able to find me,” Gideon answered, “I’m a part of the ship, think of me as a homing beacon. The ship’s other half, Captain Hunter will be able to lock in on my signal as close as he can.”

“But for now, we need to get out of here. Savage is still out there,” Sara reminded them.

So they moved and settled into Hub City, the four of them getting an apartment with papers Gideon was able to forge. Having an AI with futuristic technology had its benefits. Unfortunately there was nothing they could do about the restless syndrome she seemed to be developing.

“Gideon, you okay?” Ray asked as he watched Gideon pace the floors of their apartment weeks later.

“They’re not coming back,” Sara declared pessimistically.

“They’re coming back,” Gideon stated, not even thinking of any other option.

“What if something bad happened? What if they didn’t make it?” Kendra asked the dreaded question.

“They’re fine. The Waverider is still functional, I would know if something happened. I doubt I would live much longer anyways,” Gideon dismissed.

“So basically, they don’t want to come back,” Sara said again. Seeing Gideon getting ready to defend her precious Captain she bulldozed on, “Look they have a time machine, how hard can it be to land five minutes after they abandoned us?”

“Piloting a timeship is harder than you think, especially when you’re under attack,” Gideon stated monotonously. Ray had noticed that her voice got more steely and robotic whenever she got annoyed.

“You said you were like a homing beacon, they should be able to find you easily. But what happens when you’re not around anymore?” Sara began yelling, “Look, the rest of us are human. But you’re an android from the future stuck in a place that doesn’t have the technology to maintain you if you need it. And you’ve already began scrapping Ray’s ATOM suit for parts just in case, but what if it’s not enough? Gideon, you’re our only tether to the ship and who knows how long you’ll last for? I’m sorry, but I can’t stay here not knowing like this.”

“Sara, think about what you’re saying,” Kendra warned.

“I know what I’m saying. Look, you two have each other, you’ll be fine,” Sara gestured at her and Ray. Then she took Gideon’s hands, “And you will always hold on to that hope that Rip will come back to you. And I get it, he was your Captain for a long time. So live your lives, hoping and believing or just moving on. But I can’t live like this. I have to find somewhere I belong. I’m sorry you guys.”

With that Sara left the apartment without looking back.

“Now what?” Ray voiced.

Gideon leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, “She’s right. You have to live your lives. I know they’re coming back but I also don’t know when. Time doesn’t feel linear to me, they could be gone for five years and it could feel like a few minutes to me. Or vice versa. But that doesn’t mean you should put your life on hold.”

“Gideon, you can’t leave too. Rip would never forgive us if something happened to you, and we would never forgive ourselves,” Kendra reached out for the AI.

Gideon smiled bitterly, “I know. And I don’t plan on leaving. I’d very much like to stay here if you’d let me. But some things do need to change. Ms. Lance was correct, we don’t know how long I’m going to last. While I can take in charge from solar power it’s not the same as being able to charge on the Waverider like I normally do. I’m afraid I won’t be conscious so to speak very much. I’ll need to conserve power if we’re going to be here a while. And I won’t be very responsive when I am awake.”

“You’re going to turn off your emotional receptors?” Ray asked.

“No, I don’t think I could anyways. AIs aren’t actually meant to feel as much as I do, it’s a flaw in my code for all I know. But one that Captain Hunter has always encouraged and I wouldn’t want to be any other way. But I also know I don’t belong in this time among humans, I never have and it’s only a matter of time before they find out. I’ll have to make myself somewhat scarce,” Gideon toyed with a silver locket around her neck as she spoke.

Ray reached out to stop the nervous tick, something she had been doing a lot lately most likely out of worry. He did the only thing he could think Rip might do and pulled her in for a hug. Instantly Gideon stiffened at the contact.

“Sorry, is this too much?” Ray asked ready to let go.

Slowly Gideon wrapped her arms around him as well, “No Dr. Palmer. This is just fine.” She might not have her Captain, but she still had some of her Legends to look after her.

\--

It had been two years since they had been abandoned in the past. And things had certainly changed. Gideon had spent more time alone and turned off and her conversational skills had decreased a lot, giving succinct answers as necessary. Although usually once or twice a month Kendra and Ray could usually force her to act like herself again. They realized just how much more human Gideon had been forced to act around them rather than being a normal AI. But she was still Gideon, she still told them to clean up after themselves, she still read books whenever she had the chance and she never gave up hope that the team would be back.

Ray logically knew that Gideon was right, after all she had a link to the ship, but that didn’t mean they shouldn’t move on with their lives either. So after two years of dating Kendra he took Gideon out to a ring shop in order to choose the perfect ring for the proposal. He had never felt this way about anyone since Anna. And now, moments before popping the question-it happened. They came back.

The Waverider plopped down in front of them, the drawbridge opening revealing a slightly disheveled Rip Hunter who greeted them, “Sorry we’re late. I tried to have Jax and Stein navigate for me but there were too many timestorms around 1958, this was the closest we could get.”

It took some time to get situated back on the Waverider, greeting Firestorm and finding out Chronos had taken Snart. Although it had been years for them, it had only been minutes for the rest of the team. Time travel was strange like that.

Rip managed to hold off ten more minutes before asking the big question, “Where’s Gideon? And Sara?”

“We don’t know where Sara is, we went our separate ways not long after getting stuck,” Kendra asked.

Seeing Rip’s distraught face Ray continued, “But Gideon is back at the apartment. We need to go there anyways, my suit and other stuff is still there.”

Rip nodded, “Of course. And then we can work on finding Sara,” he added noticing Jax’s concerned face. Logically he knew Gideon would still be alive, it was her signal that they had tracked down. Well as close as they could. But still, for an AI to be stuck in the past, who knew what kind of condition she might have deteriorated into.

“Tell me the truth, Ray,” Rip asked as they climbed the stairs of the apartment, “How is she? An AI surviving for that long without the main mothership. And…and without me?”

“She started scrapping my ATOM suit for any parts she might have needed. She’s quiet a lot of the time, says it saves her power. She does recharge with the solar energy but I guess it’s not enough. She likes to watch the sunrise a lot, and read, still hates cooking and misses us using a fabricator. But sometimes it’s like she’s comatose. She misses you a lot, she plays with that locket you gave her a lot,” Ray smiled at the look Rip threw his direction and shrugged, “I got curious one day so I opened it. There are holographic pictures of you and her. I figured you must have given it.”

“I did,” Rip confirmed, “It was a while ago, back when Gideon first got a physical form. She wasn’t always human so to speak. But I got it for her as a present.”

Ray nodded, “Here we are. Home sweet home.” He pointed out the door and gestured him forward, he knew Gideon would most likely appreciate the privacy and lingered by the door after opening it for Rip.

“Back so soon?” Gideon called from her comfy place on the couch where she was reading a book, “I thought you and Ms. Saunders would want to celebrate?”

“Gideon,” Rip breathed. He watched her shoulders tense before she whipped her head around to look at him.

“Captain,” she whispered as she stood from her spot, “You’re back.” She fell into his open arms, burying her face into his shoulder.

“Yes, I’m back. Sorry it took so long, apparently it is a lot harder to navigate without you after all,” Rip joked.

“I always knew you were helpless without me, Captain,” Gideon teased back as she let go. Then softly still, “I thought I felt something, but I’ve had false alarms before and I couldn’t quite bring myself to believe.”

“I could never leave you Gideon. Never.”

“I know, Captain. I always knew you were coming, I just wasn’t sure when.”

“I am so sorry, Gideon,” he held her at arm’s length examining her profile, “Two years, how are you? How are you still functional?”

“Only just,” Gideon admitted, “I’m working off of my reserved power, only a few more weeks really until I would have to hit recovery mode.”

Rip nodded, “And you would rather shut down than do that. It seems we got here just in time then.”

Gideon could see the guilt on her Captain’s face so she pacified, “Please don’t blame yourself, Captain. This wasn’t your fault.”

“In fact, it is this time,” Rip sighed, “But we don’t have time to argue about this. Just know that I am sorry and I will never quite forgive myself for this. But we need to get back to the ship, get you charged properly. And then find Sara and rescue Snart.”

Rip kept an arm around Gideon the entire time on the walk back to the ship, as if convincing himself that she was actually there. It had only been a few minutes for him, but it felt like he had gone the two years without her as well.

“Home sweet home,” Gideon murmured as they finally entered the Waverider. Her long lost ship. Rip almost smiled as he took in the sight of her looking around in wonder and relief. Almost, if it hadn’t been his fault in the first place.

“Go get some rest, Gideon,” Rip said.

“You do realize as an AI I don’t actually require sleep, Captain?”

Rip rolled his eyes, two years apart and she was still smart as a whip. Apparently even running off reserve power didn’t dull her senses or personality, thank goodness for the small miracles.

“I know, it was a figure of speech, Gideon. You really should recharge properly though. If you could just run internal software repairs as you do so, we should be able to find Sara’s location. We can run this mission without you this one time.”

“Of course, Captain,” Gideon said almost gratefully. Although she was ecstatic to be back, it was almost strange being thrown into all this again. A recharge would at least help the adjustment period.

\---

“You can’t go without me!”

“Gideon, absolutely not. This is far too dangerous and I will not risk it. That’s final.”

“Captain, it would be dangerous for you too. If I go with you then the chances of success increase by twenty three percent. Besides, I could easily scan other AIs and override their original commands.”

Sara sighed, she was getting really tired of all this arguing. Honestly at this point she was surprised Rip didn’t just command Gideon to stay if he could, if it mean this much to him. She had come back from the Legion, and they got Snart back and Mick – who was also Chronos and alive – was now in the brig ready for rehabilitation. Which meant they now had a new mission to Kasnia in 2147. Which apparently Gideon – who had finally recharged properly – was insistent on going to.

“Look, you said it yourself, Rip,” Sara defended the woman, “Gideon can think and feel for herself. If she wants to go she should be able to.”

Rip turned on her with a steely glare, “It’s dangerous. She wouldn’t be able to act like a human, she won’t be able to pass for one. In the future, AIs are much more common. And Gideon possesses far more emotional capacities than any of them. Besides, someone has to look after Mr. Rory.”

“You can’t just keep her on the ship all the time,” Kendra sided with the women, “I’ll stay behind to look after Mick. I’m not too interested on going anyways.” Behind her Snart and Ray nodded in agreement. Rip could see he was fighting a losing battle and sighed.

“Fine, you can come. But you have to be good.”

“I’m not a child, Captain. Please refrain from treating me as one,” Gideon lectured, “You do realize I have faster processing capabilities than a human and telepathic abilities?”

“Wait, you can read minds?” Ray interrupted.

“Yes, never mind that,” Rip silenced him and then pleaded with Gideon, “Gideon, just please.”

“Alright, Captain. I promise to be ‘good’.”

Ten minutes later everyone had dressed in wool and was ready to go, well except for Kendra and Mick obviously. Sara smirked as Jax complained about the wool clothes and mused about what Ray and Martin would think of the future. When she looked over she saw Rip quietly fidgeting and decided to go see what was wrong.

“She’s going to be fine,” Sara comforted.

“It’s not that, I know she’ll be alright,” Rip admitted, “But watching her turn emotionless, it’s hardly pleasant for me. And I know she abhors it herself. I hate that she has to do this for me, act like something she’s not.”

“It’s not your fault. You need to stop holding the weight of the world on your shoulders. Oliver had the same problem too.”

Rip gave her a wry grin, “Yes it does seem to be a recurring character trait, doesn’t it? I already left her on her own for two years. All of you, stranded. I can’t afford something else to go wrong.”

“Then we’ll get it right, okay?”

Rip nodded but didn’t continue the conversation. He looked over and gestured Gideon towards him from across the bridge where she was giving Kendra information on all the necessary security protocols.

“Your eyes, Gideon,” Rip murmured.

Sara watched Gideon stiffen for a few moments before her eyes flickered like lights. She watched the colour change from the normal grey-green to a sickly luminescent green. Sara was sure if it were dark, those eyes would be glowing. Instantly, Gideon’s entire demeanor changed. She straightened up and the smile that was ever present on her face dimmed, her face completely neutral.

“Now we’re ready,” Rip said quietly.

\--

The walk in the future was quiet for the most part, other than some teasing fun at Martin and the discovery of the ATOMbots. It seemed both Jax and Ray were also somewhat unnerved by the change in Gideon’s character. Even Rip was more closed off, distancing himself from the android. Gideon simply stayed silent, though Sara was sure she was scanning the area for any immediate danger. Just because the outside appearance had changed didn’t mean it wasn’t still Gideon. She still cared for them.

They split up into teams then, the nerd twins and Jax going to look at the ATOMbots and the rest of them heading to the financial meeting with Rip.

“So how are we getting in?” Snart asked as he began casing the joint, looking for the easiest entrance.

“We’re going to walk right in, Mr. Snart,” Rip answered as they advanced to the guard at the door. He turned away for a second to put contact lenses in and then got ready for the eye scan.

Once finished the guard stopped them again, “Only you.”

“Oh no, he’s my personal accountant and she’s my personal assistant,” Sara glared at him for that until he corrected himself, “and my bodyguard. And of course my AI.”

“No humans, only you,” the guard repeated, “AI is allowed in on proof of verification. Come on Dollie.”

Sara watched Rip’s jaw clench and Snart’s fists curl, it wasn’t until she felt a sharp sting that she realized her fingernails were digging into her palm, in anger at the degradation. She could see now why Rip wanted to avoid this place for Gideon. The android made no outward response other than moving forward for an eye scan.

“Good, turn off her recording,” the guard doled off more instructions.

Rip scoffed, “Surely we don’t need to do that?”

Seeing the guard’s eyes narrow, Sara stepped in, “Just do what the nice man says.” Rip turned to her and Sara sent her patented ‘don’t be an idiot’ look.

Rip nodded at the guard and then moved behind Gideon and shifted her hair to the side, he ran his hand across the back of her neck though Sara couldn’t quite make out what he was doing as his own body obstructed her view.

“There, now if we may?” Rip waved Gideon behind him and sent Sara and Snart a look to stay put and then left them.

Sara huffed as she leaned against the wall next to Leonard, “Do you feel like a terrible person? Because I do.”

“For what? Treating the robot like a robot?” Leonard sneered.

“Don’t do that. Don’t pretend like you don’t care. I know you do, she’s our friend. And we let her get treated like that. Let her change her entire personality, basically erase it. You saw her eyes, they were freaky. She’s not herself.”

Snart shrugged, “She knew what she was getting into. So did our mighty leader.”

“He didn’t want to do it. We made him,” Sara shot back. She couldn’t help but feel guilty. It was like when they went to 1958, they had to deal with the sexism and racism and no equality. She had hoped that it would be better in the future, but here they were treating androids like as subhuman. Of course Gideon had told her that most AIs didn’t have emotions really, but she did. It wasn’t fair.

“Like you said before,” Leonard interrupted her thoughts, “She chose to do this. We respect that. It’s the only thing we can do.”

\--

“Did you know he’d make the right choice?” Sara asked when she found Gideon running algorithms on the computer. Sara wondered if she even needed to look at the screens or if it was all for show. At least she was back to normal now on the ship, the first thing she did was change her eye colour back to normal. Gideon didn’t even bother listening to the apologies streaming from her Captain’s mouth, she had simply set straight to work.

“Did I know the Captain would decide not to murder the child in the end?” Gideon clarified.

“Yes,” Sara confirmed used to Gideon’s usual bluntness.

“I had an idea. Even I don’t know everything. But I can see multiple timelines, all AIs can from information from the Vanishing Point. And I can calculate different probabilities of outcomes.”

“And you did that this time?” Sara asked. They were planning on just kidnapping the baby-Hitler Per Degaton but at the end of the day Rip let him go. Of course this was after a huge argument over the morality of the action itself. Gideon had sided with Rip and Snart, but Sara was sure there was more to it. She knew the AI was fiercely loyal, but she couldn’t see Gideon accepting her Captain becoming a murderer.

“I didn’t have to. I know my Captain’s heart. He loves his son very much, and he was a wonderful father. But I know he’s a good man, brave and honorable. He would never go through with it.”

Sara nodded when they were interrupted by Rip running in with the Rogues behind him, “Gideon plot a course. Mr. Rory has just told us that there are more bounty hunters coming after us. We need to get out of here and into hiding.”

“Where to, Captain?” Gideon asked as the team got settled in.

“Salvation,” Rip answered. Gideon paused about to contend but Rip cut her off, “Just do it now, Gideon. We don’t have time.”

With that came one of the more painful time jumps the team had experienced. By the time they landed Jax was complaining about how he couldn’t feel his face, Ray couldn’t hear and Snart had linguistic displacement.

“Yes well, as you know the longer the time jump the more apparent the side effects,” Rip groaned as he felt his own head pulsing and a wave of nausea coming over him.

“Mr. Rory and Gideon seem rather unaffected,” Martin noted.

“I was created for time travelling, non-linear time jumps won’t bother me. And Mr. Rory has been a temporal bounty hunter for years, it is unlikely time travelling will affect him much anymore,” Gideon explained.

“So where are we now?” Snart asked.

“Salvation, a town in South Dakota in 1871,” Gideon answered.

“Why are we here?” Kendra asked. This time Gideon let Mick explain how they were in a fragmentation and what that meant. After which Ray decided that they had to explore the Wild West, apparently he always had dreams of being a cowboy. So against Rip’s better judgement he gave them the correct uniforms and weapons in case of emergency only, which he did emphasize.

“What about you, Gideon? Don’t you wanna come along?” Ray asked as he swung and arm around her. Two years together and he liked to think he knew her a bit better than the rest of the team. They had bonded.

“I’m not exactly sure this is my place to be,” Gideon protested.

“Go,” Rip urged, “It’ll be fine. Just go and have fun. I’ll stay on the ship and you can keep them in line. And you can take care of her,” Rip warned pointedly to Ray. With that the Captain swished away to his study while Gideon grimaced. But she allowed Ray to lead her to the wardrobe so she could dress in the proper period clothing. She picked out a dress for herself and accepted the cowboy hat Ray playfully put on her head, though all she wanted to do was use it to hide herself from the world.

Gideon had a plan, stay quiet and don’t be noticed. It was her standard plan on all trips to the past with her Captain. There was no easy way for an AI such as herself to blend in. In the future she would have to be an android and in the past she had to be a human. There was no place she could be herself. It was best to just not be noticed under these circumstances.

Unfortunately she was with the Legends; that in itself would always cause trouble. And it did: somehow they had gotten themselves involved in a bar brawl with the Stillwater Gang and forcibly gotten kicked out, where Gideon came face to face with an old friend.

“Hey, let go of her!” Sara yelled when she saw a man grab on to Gideon’s wrist and drag her up from where they had been thrown out. Behind Sara, Kendra also got ready to sprout wings and Snart was fingering his own gun.

The man in question did nothing of the sort, he only looked at Gideon, “So where are they all from? And where is he?”

“What are you talking about?” Ray babbled, “We’re from around these here parts. Just new to town, that’s all.” He couldn’t let Gideon get hurt, not after he promised Rip he would look after her.

“Oh let’s not pretend, you think I don’t know time travelers when I see them? Although you’ve gotten better at playing human,” the man replied, “Now where is he?”

“Gideon, you gonna tell us what’s going on here?” Snart scowled when he noticed her stubborn silence.

“Meet Mr. Jonah Hex, an old friend of the Captain’s,” Gideon said not taking her eyes off Jonah, “Captain Hunter is on the ship. Come on.”

\--

The reunion as Gideon had expected, had not gone well. Jonah had the audacity of mentioning Calvert in front of her Captain, which she then later had to explain to the team. She did so in the vaguest of terms, so they wouldn’t know their own involvement in events. Then the team split up once again, Sara and Kendra had a mission of their own. Ray had rounded up the Rogues and Jax to assist him with Jonah’s gang problem. Her Captain had gone to sulk in his study. Which meant Professor Stein was the one who was currently using the medbay to fabricate medicine without Gideon’s approval. Immediately she alerted her Captain about it, who brought along Ray and Jax.

“You know you can’t use future medicine in the past Martin. You’ve seen what happened when Ray left a piece of his suit in the past. Central City was nearly destroyed,” Rip criticized.

“Gideon, you ratted me out!” Martin scolded her.

“I’m sorry Professor, you know it’s my job to help maintain the timeline. And to alert the Captain of anything that may lead to future problems,” Gideon apologized as they followed him to the cargo bay.

“I highly doubt that helping save one sick little boy will damage the timeline that much. Besides, you might as well get off your own pedestal. Gideon told us about your trip to Calvert.”

Jax saw the look of betrayal Rip shot Gideon and tried to clear her name, “She didn’t tell us much. Just that it was overrun by a gang and you two were around then. Why does it matter so much to you? Why won’t you just tell us, Rip?” Rip sighed as he took a seat, Jax watched as Gideon pointedly stayed on the opposite side, clearly keeping her distance from her Captain.

“We did visit a very long time ago. Before my son Jonas was even born, before I had married Miranda even. It was when Gideon had just obtained a humanoid form,” Rip began his story.

“Jonas?” Ray asked, “You named your son after Hex?”

“I did root for the name ‘Gideon’ as it has no gender, sadly I was overruled,” Gideon complained in the background.

That brought a slight smile to Rip’s face, “Yes, needless to say this era does hold a special place in my heart. I loved it here in the Old West, a chance to be a hero. A victim of the same time drift you were in 1958, Dr. Palmer. I didn’t want to leave. In fact I almost didn’t. Gideon had to convince me that it was for the best, if I stayed I would have never seen Miranda again. Would have never had my son. So I tore myself away from this place, allowed it to be attacked the next day by the gang.”

“Which is why you blame yourself for Calvert,” Jax summarized, “You and Gideon loved it here and didn’t want to leave.”

Behind Jax, Ray saw Gideon stiffen and reached out an arm to comfort her. He had learned in their two years that when she got upset she tended to be more monotonous and stiff, more robotic.

Rip made eye contact with Gideon as he sighed, “No. I loved it here, Gideon did not. Another reason why this place doesn’t have the fondest memories, I think we had our one and only actual argument here.”

“It was a long time ago,” Gideon forgave.

“I don’t understand, what happened?” Martin asked. From his time on the Waverider, he knew Gideon would do just about anything to make her Captain happy. He knew just how agreeable she was and had often wondered what exactly her breaking point was. It wasn’t as if their Captain wasn’t prone to his own childish fits of anger.

“I had just gotten a human form. When I was merely a computer with a voice I never fit in with the other AIs, I was far too emotional for them. So they upgraded me to a physical form as per Captain Hunter’s request. But then I couldn’t fit in with the humans either. You heard Mr. Hex, I only pretend at being human. My mind is that of a supercomputer and my body is merely that of a female human. I’m not quite sure I fit in anywhere, and the people of that town could tell,” Gideon told her story.

Jax nodded, they had all seen how she had reacted in Kasnia. She had gone full on AI mode and they could tell it wasn’t who she was. But at the same time ever since they had found out she was an AI and not a human they had learned how much she had played up the human aspects too. She didn’t actually need to sleep much, or move much – it was a waste of battery really, a lot of times she said something quite bluntly without realizing the implications of what she actually said. Normally she wouldn’t hesitate to give any probability of failure or death with a happy smile, where most people would be more sympathetic. But not Gideon. But that was what made her special, made her Gideon.

“I was so wrapped up in my own happiness at the chance to play a hero, I barely even noticed Gideon’s own problems,” Rip admitted, “I always told her to be open with me about her emotions; most Time Masters aren’t as close with their AIs as Gideon and I are. But when she tried to make me come to my senses and explain her discomfort I dismissed it. I said some rather unpleasant things.” That was sugar coating it, so he continued mostly to Ray, “You once asked me why I continue to feel guilty about leaving you four in 1958. I almost had Gideon leave me here, nearly overrided her to do so. An AI without its Captain is basically an AI without purpose. I almost left her once and then I actually did it in Harmony Falls. Of course I blame myself.”

“This era doesn’t hold the best memories for me,” Gideon admitted, “But the Captain loved it here. I blame myself for tearing him away from this era.” Being here only gave her flashbacks to those difficult times with her Captain, it wasn’t the most pleasant of feelings.

“I made the right decision in the end,” Rip said steadfastly, “If I hadn’t left I wouldn’t have had my wife and child. I left for the people I loved most in the world, I have no regrets over that. You shouldn’t either Gideon.”

“Maybe, but maybe now is the time to atone for the guilt you feel anyways,” Ray said sagely.

\--

“So we have our baby selves onboard, what are we supposed to do with them?” Snart asked the obvious. They had fixed up Salvation as best they could, which meant a lot of futuristic weapons which Snart still wanted Gideon to wipe from the peoples’ memories, but apparently that was tiring and there weren’t enough amnesia pills for everyone. So they were relying on skepticism and disbelief. Then the Legends had been forced to flee again, this time being hunted down by some chick named Pilgrim. If he ever met the Time Masters he would need to have a conversation with their naming skills, even Cisco came up with better names.

“Leonard for once makes an excellent point, it’s not like we can raise ourselves, the paradox itself seems rather impossible,” Martin agreed.

“You have no idea,” Gideon muttered while Rip flashed her an apologetic look. She could feel the paradoxes around her as the ship could, “The Waverider is not meant to hold paradoxes as such, Captain. And neither am I. And I am certainly not a babysitter,” Gideon glared at Ms. Lance who had asked her for help with child care.

Sara shrugged, “What, I figured since Rip had a kid you’d be good with them. Besides, you said you can read minds. Why can’t you just read the baby’s mind and find out what they want?”

“That doesn’t mean the baby thinks in English! I’d like to see you decipher baby-speak. I am programmed to translate many different languages, baby babble is not one of them!”

“Alright, calm down, Gideon,” Rip raised a hand, “And she’s really not that great with kids. She once complained about Jonas getting the ship messy.”

“Sir, as much as you may love your son, he got peanut butter on my computer systems,” Gideon grumbled.

“He was three, Gideon. You have got to stop holding grudges,” Rip rolled his eyes as he chastised his friend, “And no Mr. Snart I have no plans on keeping your younger selves onboard, we’re going to drop them off somewhere safe.”

“And where exactly do you call safe, Captain? I mean we barely even know anything about you. Only just found out your companion here isn’t even human,” Snart argued for the fun of it.

Rip ignored the comment, “Gideon, plot a course. The Refuge if you will.”

“Of course, Captain.” They were going home.

When they landed in the idyllic setting there was a woman already outside the cottage waiting for them.

“About time,” she greeted with an English accent, “I’ve been waiting for you. I missed you.”

“I missed you too, Mother,” Rip greeted allowing himself to be hugged. Then the woman did the same to Gideon who happily responded. The Legends tried to hide their surprise as the old woman led them inside with their younger selves for tea and biscuits.

“You have a mom,” Jax repeated again as he sat on the couch.

“The list of surprises just keeps growing,” Mick commented.

“Adoptive mother of course,” Mary corrected as she walked in.

“Time Masters are picked from all over the timeline and raised in refuges such as this one. A place unknown in time and space, your younger selves will be safe here. Ideally they’ll only be here for a few minutes and then be returned to the timeline properly,” Rip explained.

“So, Michael,” Mary started.

“Michael?” Kendra asked as she watched a giggle pass through Gideon’s lips.

“That’s me, Michael is my birth name,” Rip grimaced.

“Time Masters insist on new identities upon adoption,” Mary explained.

“You work for the Time Masters,” Sara said hesitantly.

“Of course I do, dear. Don’t worry though, my true loyalty has always been to my children,” Mary assured them.

“Look, I may make a gorgeous baby but I’m a handful,” Snart warned.

“I’m a handful myself,” Mick added remembering pyro tendencies.

“I doubt either of you will be particularly difficult,” Mary dismissed.

“Don’t be fooled, the woman is as tough as nails,” Rip conspired.

“I’ve had plenty of tough cases,” Mary gave her son a pointed look when a young boy of about ten in a brown coat broke through into the room aiming for the biscuits. Before he could reach the plate, Gideon immediately slapped his hand away and gave the young boy a warning look. He huffed looking ready to scream when her eyes suddenly flashed to their original luminescent green. The young boy widened his eyes and ran out of the room.

Rip rolled his eyes at the interaction while Mary chided, “Gideon while I do appreciate your help in teaching my kids obedience try not to traumatize them for life, would you dear?”

“I wouldn’t worry, Mother,” Rip assured her, “He’s nothing but trouble, I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

Sara watched as Mick set off to have a talk with his own younger self and Gideon followed after the young boy while the team took to chatting among themselves. When it was time to leave, she saw Rip talking with his mother and Gideon talking with the young boy from before, kneeling down to his eye level as she spoke.

Sara frowned and went to talk to Rip once his mother had left him with a plate of biscuits, “I thought Gideon didn’t babysit?” she nudged him to the scene.

Rip snorted, “She doesn’t. Gideon!”

Sara watched Gideon’s eyes flash the computer green again and the young boy blinked confused before running off after his friends. Gideon walked over to her Captain as Sara stole the plate from Rip to share with the rest of the team.

“Have a good conversation?” Rip asked Gideon quietly as Sara walked away.

“Of course, Captain. Don’t you remember?”

“Don’t get cocky, Gideon. It’s really not a good look on you. Should I be worried about the amount of times you’ve wiped my memory?”

“It’s my duty to uphold the timeline, Captain. Even if it means wiping your younger self’s memories,” Gideon reminded.

Rip sighed, “Well, if we’re going to keep the timeline intact then we have to figure out Pilgrim and Savage quickly so we can return our friends younger selves where they belong. And fast, before time sets in.”

\--

It had worked. They defeated Pilgrim and had gone to 2166 and finally apprehended Savage with future technology and planned to bring him to the Time Masters to await trial. Sara had been sure this was the end of their mission, they had won. Then the time drive had broken and Jax insisted on helping Gideon fix it. The young man had been sent back to 2016 by Martin after being exposed to the dangerous levels of temporal energy. And then the Time Masters turned on them.

Suddenly Leonard was grabbing Sara as they watched the Time Masters apprehend the rest of the team. They left Gideon behind but not before they did something to her, though Sara wasn’t sure what. Once they had all cleared out, they came out of hiding and Sara approached the other woman.

“Gideon? What did they do to you?” Sara asked worriedly. They wouldn’t just leave her, an AI such as Gideon must have had some value to the Time Masters.

“Hello, my name is Gideon. I am the artificial consciousness in charge of maintaining all critical systems of the ship. Recovery mode has now been activated,” Gideon listed off with her eerie green eyes.

“It’s like they rebooted her,” Sara gasped.

“I say we disable her and leave!” Leonard urged.

“We can’t, what about the team? Gideon’s the only one that can help us save them right now!” Sara argued.

“Scan of lifeforms indicates you are intruders. The Time Masters must be alerted of this breach immediately,” Gideon said in an annoyingly overly nice tone.

“That’s not good! They changed her loyalties to the Time Masters instead of Rip and the crew.” Snart declared.

“We need to fix her, before she tells them we’re here!”

“You got any ideas? I’m not the kid. I know the insides and outs of my cold gun, not future androids used by this insane cult,” Snart snapped at her.

“Gideon, please remember. We are your friends, we’re a team. Remember? We got stranded in 1958 together, I know you’re stronger than this. Please!” Sara pleaded.

“Authorities must be alerted immediately,” Gideon repeated.

“I don’t like the look in her eyes. But she hasn’t told them yet, which means our Gideon has to be in there somewhere. C’mon, you can fight this. You’re not just some doll, you’re more than that!” Snart urged himself.

Gideon began advancing on them slowly, cornering them into the bridge.

“Gideon, think about it. The mission, to stop Savage. Save Rip’s family and the world!” Sara tried again.

“I don’t think she’s in a listening mood,” Snart threw out.

“Can we reboot her?”

“Do I look like I know anything about androids? How do we do that?”

“She’s connected to the Waverider, right?”

“The ship’s already down and she’s still up,” Snart said as he ducked behind a chair to avoid the possessed AI., “Besides the kid once said she’d still have enough back up energy to last without the ship. She survived two years away from the Waverider, I don’t think ship not working will stop her.”

Sara suddenly remembered their trip to Kasnia and how Rip had done something on the back of her neck, “Distract her, I have a plan!”

“What do you think I’m doing?” Leonard yelled back getting out his cold gun ready to defend himself.

While Snart had her attention, Sara jumped onto the android’s back and felt around the back of her neck only barely avoiding getting thrown off. They both fell to the ground, Sara pressed Gideon down face forward on the ground and straddled her waist, “I’m sorry about this Gideon. But we need our friend right now.” She pressed a button the size of a dime right in the middle of her shoulder blades and hoped it would work.

Gideon’s body froze underneath her for a few moments and then there was a gasp underneath her.

“Gideon? You back with us?” Sara asked gently but still kept her weight on top of the android just in case.

Gideon’s face turned to the side so Sara could see her grey eyes, “Yes, Ms. Lance. I’m sorry about giving you a fright. I was in recovery mode I’m afraid, not in control of my own actions. Restarting my systems gave me a fighting chance to get back to myself, thank you for that.”

“Looks like turning it off and on again works on you too,” Snart mused.

Sara got off Gideon and pulled her up to her feet, “The rest of the team. Do you know where they are?”

Gideon tilted her head to the side, “Yes. It won’t be easy getting to them. But not to worry, I have a plan.”

Snart and Sara worked on rescuing the team and bringing them back to the ship while Gideon distracted the other Time Masters by overriding the AI systems. If they had the audacity to do it to her, she saw no problem in giving them a taste of their own medicine.

“Snart’s got the professor in the medbay, he needs Jax back and soon,” Sara called as soon as they all entered.

“At least he promises not to blow up onboard, that’s pretty considerate,” Ray pointed out.

“Would someone get me out of this stupid robot suit?” Mick growled while Ray went to help him.

“We need to get the hell out of here. Gideon?” Rip yelled.

“Of course, first can we take a moment to appreciate our reunion?” Gideon asked playfully.

Rip sighed in relief and pulled his friend into a fierce hug, “I have missed you too.”

Gideon let go of her Captain, “Now that we’ve had our moment, I’m afraid there are other problems.”

“They’re targeting us with a tractor beam!” Ray filled in for the rest of the team.

“Gideon, punch it!” Sara yelled and Gideon did so. Then Sara apologized to Rip, “Sorry, you’re usually the one calling out commands.”

Rip raised his hands in surrender, “By all means, Ms. Lance. As long as we get out of here.”

It took some time, but between Ray and Gideon and Chronos’ operating system they were able to disable the tractor beam in the end.

As Snart joined them on the bridge, Rip spoke, “I’m afraid the professor is the least of our problems. As it turns out the Time Masters are using something called the Oculus. It allows them to gaze into the future and engineer it. All of our actions have been predetermined, nothing has been of our own free will. This whole mission has been a sham”

“So you’re saying we’re just following a script?” Sara asked as Mick demonstrated by pinching Ray, “Even now?”

“I’m saying that any choice we make. To stay or go, it could be exactly what they want,” Rip explained.

“Including wanting me and Gideon dead, apparently,” Ray spoke.

“What?” Gideon looked at her Captain.

Rip winced, “Druce showed me the Oculus. You were both there, dying.”

“Well we’re not going to let that happen. The Time Masters want to control us, we do the one thing they don’t want. Destroy the Oculus,” Snart planned.

“Agreed, I for one don’t like the idea of being a puppet for anyone,” Ray agreed.

“I like blowing stuff up,” Mick added.

“I’m in,” Sara said succinctly.

The team turned to Gideon who shrugged, “You realize that my whole life has technically contained no free will so to speak? Captain Hunter could easily override me just as the Time Masters just did,” Rip flinched here imagining what they would have caused Gideon to do, “But he never did. At the very least he’s always given me the option to disagree with him. But if it’s important to the team, then I will help. Always.”

“Druce said the Oculus didn’t work at the Vanishing Point, most likely because there is no time there. Team, I say it’s time we take control of our own destinies,” Rip enthused.

\--

Jax had returned to the team and Firestorm merged. While Sara, Leonard and Firestorm took care of the Time Masters, the rest of the team headed to the Oculus computer where Gideon and Ray could disable it.

“How much longer?” Mick yelled.

“Two more minutes hopefully, then there should be a big boom!” Ray called.

“How big?” Mick asked.

“The amount of energy given off by this explosion would be most devastating, Mr. Rory. On a scale of one to ten, I would rate it at a googleplex,” Gideon answered.

Rip turned around and saw both of the geniuses leaning in to the cavity of the Oculus, “What are you doing? This is it, this is how you die. You can’t!”

“Have faith, Captain,” Gideon placated, “Even if I do die, well I am glad to have had you as my Captain.”

“And all my life I’ve always wanted to make a difference,” Ray agreed, “If this is how I do it, so be it. Uh oh.”

“What do you mean by that, Haircut?” Mick turned to look at them.

“There seems to be some failsafe tampering, which probably includes trying to blow this place up,” Ray babbled.

“In English,” Mick shouted.

“We have to maintain contact with the Oculus in order to destroy it,” Gideon clarified.

“Not that much English, Gideon,” Mick stopped her.

“No, please no,” Rip begged.

“You’ve seen the future, Captain. It’s as you always say, time wants to happen, perhaps it’s meant to happen like this,” Gideon said softly.

“Gideon,” Rip pleaded with her. She was his best friend, his pillar of support for the longest time. He couldn’t lose her now.

“You’ve seen us die. In a way, we’re already dead,” Ray said.

“You’re right,” Mick got a crazy look in his eyes and then hit Ray and pressed the back of Gideon’s neck for an emergency shut down, “We came here to change the future,” he said as he took their spot.

“Mr. Rory, we can’t leave you here,” Rip argued.

“I want revenge on those bastards, now get them outta here!” Mick ordered.

Rip nodded, “You’re much braver than I’ve given you credit for, Mick.” With that he shrunk Ray and put him into his pocket and carried Gideon out of the room.

\--

Gideon wandered the corridors for her Captain. Of course she knew where to find him, but she also knew he would most likely want some time alone. The entire team was grieving after Mr. Snart sacrificed himself to save the team and destroy the Oculus. He saved her life, something Gideon would never forget. A human sacrificing himself to save an AI, even if it was indirectly.

“Captain Hunter?” she called softly as she found him sitting alone on the ground in the dark.

“Gideon, could you please review the timeline for me?” he whispered.

Gideon took a seat next to him, “I’m sorry Captain. There is no timeline data now that the Oculus has been destroyed.” She could feel it in her programming, a piece of the puzzle missing. How did people live with the unknown?

“We’re sailing without a map,” Rip leaned his head against the wall, “Well then could you review news articles? You know what to look for.”

“I’m sorry, Captain. News accounts report that Savage succeeded in murdering Miranda and Jonas,” Gideon answered as softly as she could.

“Of course, of course he did. This whole mission was for nothing,” Rip’s voice broke as tears spilled from his eyes.

“Oh Captain,” Gideon allowed him to pillow his head in her lap while she stroked his hair, much like the first night he had lost his family. She let him grieve silently for his loss, it was now permanent. After a while when his sobbing subsided she continued, “It wasn’t for nothing. The Oculus has been destroyed. You may not have been able to save your family, but there’s still a chance at saving the future. With the Oculus gone, you have free will. You can stop Savage.”

Rip sat up slowly, tear tracks on his face. Taking a shuddering gasp he spoke, “Yes. But I’m afraid we’re going to do it alone.”

“Captain?”

“I’ve already endangered this team far too much. No more. Plot a course for May 2016, we’re dropping off the team and then finishing our mission.”

\--

Leaving the team behind hadn’t worked as Gideon expected. But she had learned it was best for her Captain come to these conclusions on his own. Together they had rescued Kendra and Carter from Savage and plotted to kill the immortal once and for all.

It had worked. But now there was a meteoroid they had to get rid of.

“Gideon! Plot a course for the sun!” Rip yelled as he joined her on the bridge.

Gideon used the tractor beam to grab hold of the meteorite, “Do you have a plan, Captain?”

“Rip? What the hell are you doing?” the team came through on comms.

“I’m flying the Waverider into the sun, with the meteor onboard,” Rip answered nervously as he checked the final buttons.

“With you and Gideon onboard!”

“Yes, I suppose this is goodbye,” he answered as he squeezed Gideon’s shoulder in apology. He should have let her off now, in case his plan didn’t work. But he didn’t want to go through this alone. Gideon smiled bravely, she would stand by her Captain until the end.

“This isn’t fair, you brought us onto this mission,” Jax argued.

“Which is why I must end it on my own.”

“I don’t want to lose more friends,” Mick’s voice came through sadly.

“The sentiment is shared, Mr. Rory,” Gideon admitted, “I’ll miss having friends like you. Thank you, for accepting me.”

“Gideon, no,” Ray and Jax spoke at the same time.

“And thank you, for giving me the honor of serving as your Captain,” Rip said, although the latter part got interrupted with static.

“Comms are offline, Captain.”

“Of course, we’re on our own now, Gideon. Thank you. For everything you’ve done for me.”

Gideon watched as her Captain piloted their ship closer to the star. She watched as he passed out and tossed restlessly and took over the piloting herself while checking his vitals.

Suddenly he stirred, “What? Where?”

“I’m still here, Captain,” Gideon placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

“I know Gideon. You always are. Even to the end,” he placed a hand over hers.

“Can I share something with you, Captain?” Gideon asked as she saw the sun coming closer to them, “I don’t think I’m ready to die.”

Rip gave her a determined look, “As it turns out. Neither am I. How are the solar rays functioning?”

“Operating at an efficiency rate of 12,000 percent,” Gideon answered.

“Alright then. Transfer all the power into the time drive. Get ready to eject the meteor and pray we can make one last time jump,” Rip ordered.

Gideon followed his orders, flinching as the Waverider broke down during the time jump back to the Legends. The amount of times she would have to fix up this ship was unimaginable. But they made it.

“What the hell just happened?” Jax yelled as the Legends came onboard.

“Well we sort of threw the meteor into the sun and then time jumped away,” Rip downplayed the event.

“You’re an idiot,” Mick stated.

Rip laughed, “Yes perhaps. But it worked. Now who wants a return trip to 2016?” he asked as they entered the bridge.

“I can’t believe it’s over,” Ray breathed.

“For some of you yes. My journey is only just beginning,” Rip corrected. Gideon looked at her Captain confused, what did he mean by that?

“We just killed Savage three times. What else is there?” Kendra asked in disbelief.

“We also destroyed the Oculus and the Time Masters. Someone has to uphold the timeline. Who better than a former Time Master? And any of you, if you choose. I’ll drop you off in 2016 and come back in a few days to give you some time to think about it.”

“Perhaps Mr. Rory would like to go to 2014 and have one last goodbye with Mr. Snart?” Gideon mused. Mick nodded gruffly in response.

“What about you two? You going to keep going if we say no?” Jax asked.

“I will. If Gideon agrees.”

“Me, Captain?” Gideon questioned.

Rip turned to her, “Yes, it occurs to me that I never gave any of you a choice the first time. I kidnapped all of them and never properly asked you if you even wanted a team. This has always been your ship too. And after getting separated in 1958, and the amount of danger I’ve put you in. I would understand if you didn’t want to travel with me anymore.”

The team smiled, happy that Gideon was finally getting the chance to make an autonomous decision. She deserved nothing less.

“You’re right,” Gideon agreed, “I had a chance to live life without you. Without time travelling, to be human if only for a while. But I also know what I’m meant for. Ms. Lance once said I could be a hero if I wanted, but I never have. All I have ever wanted is acceptance for who I am. I know losing your family started this mission, Captain. But I think in creating the Legends, you gave me one instead.”

The people who accepted her as she was, not fully human or fully android. She would be happy to travel with them anywhere. Her team. Her family.


End file.
